Head Coach | jeff Conrad

Jeff Conrad joined the Ospreys' staff in August of 2015. At the University of North Florida, he is responsible for hitting and working with the infielders as well as serving as recruiting coordinator. On August 18, 2019, Conrad was promoted to Associate Head Coach. On June 10, 2022, Conrad officially became interim head coach before being elevated to head coach on July 1, 2022, as the sixth head coach in program history.

In his first year as the head coach of the Ospreys, Conrad displayed a 29-23-1 record with a 10-13-1 mark in conference play. He started his reign with a 8-0 run-ruled victory over IUPUI and continued with early key wins against Georgetown, Memphis and Troy, as well as a pair of doubleheader shutouts against FAU. He also took the series against Stetson, North Alabama, Bellarmine and FGCU in conference play. He helped both Shannon Glover and Kayla Harper garner Second Team All-ASUN selections and Chloe Culp to an ASUN Player of the Week honor.

During the 2022 season, North Florida set many impressive offensive marks under Conrad as the associate head coach. On the way to a D-I era best mark of 42 wins, including 27 at home, the Osprey offense run-ruled nine games and scored six runs or more in 19 games this season. UNF also put together streaks of 13 and 10 straight wins during the year, as well as a D-I program record of three consecutive games of double digit scoring totals. It was also the first time since 2017 that they garnered three wins over Power Five teams in a season.

UNF had one of its most successful seasons in 2022 with their second ASUN Championship title game appearance in program history. They also produced three All-ASUN players, including outfielder Shannon Glover to the first team, as well as five Ospreys selected for conference weekly honors highlighted by Kayla McGory earning her first-career ASUN Player of the Week.

Conrad helped set offensive team marks that ranked top two in the program's D-I history for slugging percentage (.400), runs scored (274), home runs (36), RBI (244) and stolen bases (76). He also helped Kayla McGory finish her career top-two in the program's D-I era for at-bats (648), runs scored (121), RBI (116), stolen bases (62) and walks (99).

In 2019, UNF advanced to the ASUN Tournament championship game for the first time in school history thanks, in part, to a strong offensive year. Senior Navia Penrod became the ASUN all-time career hits leader collecting her 285th hit in a 3-1 win over Liberty.

UNF finished the campaign with 30 wins and was among the conference offensive leaders in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, runs, hits, triples and RBI. Defensively, North Florida led the ASUN in double plays turned with 25, falling just two short of the record 27 turned in by the 2017 squad. The Birds of Clay also recorded their first conference series sweep since 2015 with a three-game sweep of Stetson in DeLand securing their spot in the ASUN Conference Tournament. Navia Penrod was a first team ASUN selection while Penrod, Paige Pfent and Morgan Clausen received ASUN All-Tournament honors.

The 2017 season was also a record breaking year for the Ospreys offense under Conrad’s leadership. Team school records were set in batting average (.295), doubles (82), sacrifice flies (22) and stolen bases (84). The 2017 squad also posted 470 hits, falling just two shy of the 472 collected by the 2008 team.

Individually, several Ospreys also claimed spots atop the UNF record books. Sophomore Navia Penrod set school records posting a .422 batting average and 87 hits. Penrod became the first Osprey to finish the season with over a .400 average during the DI era. Heading into postseason play, her 87 hits were top in NCAA DI. Freshman Kayla McGory led all of NCAA Division I with a program-best nine sac flies which helped her earn a spot on the ASUN All-Freshman team. McGory also became tops at UNF in triples (4) and walks (39) during her rookie campaign. UNF featured one of the top offenses in the ASUN - finishing in the top two in hits, doubles, RBI and batting average.

Defensively the Ospreys set a school record turning 27 double plays and led the ASUN. McGory was named the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year. McGory, Penrod and Dominica Cocuzza were named ASUN First Team All-Conference performers. Penrod also garnered ASUN All-Tournament honors in addition to NFCA All-Region honors.

In 2016, Conrad’s first year guiding the Ospreys offense, UNF finished in the top three of the ASUN with a .274 team batting average. That batting average was the highest offensive output recorded by a UNF team in the past eight seasons. The Ospreys went on to lead the conference in sacrifice hits and finished in the top two in doubles. Conrad guided a UNF offense that went on to set a school record with 19 hits in a game versus cross town rival Jacksonville University.